AthleticsPozzi lines-up with the stars

THE ever modest Andrew Pozzi headed to the Aviva Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham to take his place in a televised event amongst a galaxy of world stars at the weekend.

He lined-up in the 60m hurdles against two of the all time great icons of world hurdling including Dayron Robles and Liu Xiang, the reigning and former Olympic champions respectively.

Pozzi had a superb run in the the same heat as Liu Xiang and, in equalling his PB of 7.62, qualified for the final alongside Robles.

A super-quick start from Robles pulled Pozzi up to the crucial first hurdle alongside him.

But with Robles and Liu Xiang stepping on the gas and putting on the pressure, Pozzi slightly lost his rhythm which resulted in him clattering the next four hurdles.

The race itself resulted in an impressive victory for China’s favourite athlete in a national record of 7.41, with Robles second in 7.50 and Pozzi finished 7th in 7.71, despite hitting the hurdles.

Afterwards a smiling but philosophical Pozzi said: “I’m really pleased to have reached the final and to have been the first Brit home, but I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t run as well as I hoped.

“It was a great experience in my first year as a senior to have raced, and been very competitive against two of the all time greats of hurdling.”

He added: “Going to Istanbul for my first Indoor World Championships is really exciting and now I’ve proved to myself I’m competitive against the best hurdlers from around the world I’m really looking forward to that.

“It will be a good experience and hopefully I can do well over there.”